Doctors to vote on allowing abortion up to birth

The vote comes despite a recent poll showing the vast majority of the public oppose such a move

British doctors are to vote later this month on whether to call for abortion to be legal for any reason up to birth.

Around 500 doctors attending the British Medical Association’s annual meeting this year will take part in the vote after a special debate session on June 27.

The motion comes after Members of Parliament voted in favour of the measure in a largely symbolic vote in March.

If the motion passes, the British Medical Association – the trade union for Britain’s doctors – will adopt the so-called “decriminalisation” of abortion as its official policy, and begin lobbying Government to change the law.

The Mail reports that doctors have been instructed to read a 52-page document which has been jointly prepared by several of the doctors in favour of “decriminalisation”, including Professor Wendy Savage, who recently called for mothers to be able to abort babies simply for being the “wrong” sex.

A poll last month found just one in a hundred people would support a move to legalise abortion up to birth.

The ComRes research also found that 60 per cent believed the current 24-week limit was already too high, and should be lowered to 20 weeks.

More than half of women also said they would like the limit lowered to just 16 weeks.